


begin anew

by CapriciousCrab



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Comfort/Angst, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Memory Loss, Soulmates, Temporary Character Death, i mean it's them so..., this sounds sad but there's a lot of love too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:27:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29778897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CapriciousCrab/pseuds/CapriciousCrab
Summary: He dreamt once more of the eternal hourglass; that cruelly relentless instrument of time, so indifferent to Thanatos' pain as he watched the sands of Ares' time slip away. He woke and his heart was heavy, for he knew that today would be their last in this time.
Relationships: Ares/Thanatos (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 27





	begin anew

**Author's Note:**

> I love Ares. I love Thanatos. I love them together.  
> I also love taking a familiar trope and flipping it just a bit to see what happens.

Thanatos woke from dreams of different times and different places, the fading sound of foreign languages singing like music in his ears. He had dreamt of ages past; of when he was a young God, forever waiting for Ares to recall who he was and what they meant to each other. Longing for the day when Ares would find him once more, and they could begin anew.

He had dreamt once more of the eternal hourglass; that cruelly relentless instrument of time, so indifferent to Thanatos' pain as he watched the sands of Ares' time slip away. He woke and his heart was leaden, for he knew that today would be their last in this time.

Thanatos opened grief-heavy eyes and listened to the sounds of modern-day Greece rising to meet the day. Birdsong overlapped the murmur of voices in the street, backed by the faint sound of waves in the sea- a pleasurable symphony that had him easing, the tension leaching from his limbs as he sank into the warm body at his back.

He closed his eyes and let himself remember the day they had become soul bound; images flashing through his mind of Ares, injured and sulking in some dank cave in a far-flung corner of Macedonia, the bright shock of the bond bursting into bloom between them.

_“My Lord Death, to what do I owe this great honor?”_

_“It seems, Lord Ares, that the Fates have deemed us even more compatible than most.”_

They had always worked well together, harmonious partners in War and Death and that harmony had extended into their bond, their mutual admiration for one another growing into a love so strong that not even Ares’ lost godhood could shatter it.

A muffled yawn from behind him shifted his attention, pulling him from ancient memories and back to the man sharing his bed. Thanatos smiled at the sounds of Ares reluctantly coming awake.

“Thanatos?”

The sheets rustled as Ares moved, hiking his thigh up and over Thanatos’ hip as he pulled him closer. An unabashed cuddler, Ares’ arm was a solid weight around his waist and Thanatos leaned back against his chest and took a slow, steady breath as he watched the sun begin to breach the surface of the horizon. The predawn light shifted from violet-blue to the hazy shade of gold that Ares always loved to say matched Thanatos' eyes, knowing that the effusive compliments still had the power to make him flush with embarrassed pleasure, even after all these years.

"Good morning, agápi mou," Ares rumbled, his breath warm against the back of Thanatos' neck. "Why are you awake to see the dawning of the day?"

Thanatos let Ares press kisses to his neck, his ears, his cheeks; delighting as ever in the physical display of affection that Ares so loved to shower upon him. He tipped his chin up, offering his throat, and nearly purred at the rasp of Ares' stubble against the tender skin of this throat. Ares tipped him over onto his back and Thanatos smiled up into his face.

Drowsy eyes smiled back at him, a brown so deep they gleamed with hints of ruby fire. Ares' silver hair tumbled boyishly over his brow and Thanatos' breath caught in his throat as he thought once more of those grains of sands; tumbling one by one through the narrow neck of that eternal hourglass of time.

"Thanatos?" Ares's hand came up to cup the side of his face. Tender and gentle, as he has done countless times throughout their centuries together. "What troubles you, dear one?"

Thanatos turned his head and kissed the hand that held his cheek with such care. "I had a dream."

"Oh?"

"Mhm. Of when we met. Do you remember?"

"Hmm, perhaps. We have had so many meetings."

"Ares," Thanatos chided quietly.

Ares chuckled and ran a fingertip along Thanatos' throat. Thanatos shivered and Ares leaned down to press his teeth into the thin skin covering Thanatos' rapid pulse. He bit down until a moan tumbled from Thanatos' lips before pulling back to run the tip of his tongue over the imprint of teeth marks he had left behind.

"Of course I remember," Ares said with a grin. "You were magnificent."

"So you always say," Thanatos murmured, distracted by the way Ares lifted his arms above him, pinning his wrists gently to the pillow beside his ears. Goosebumps rippled down his arms when Ares settled his weight atop him, nestling one thick thigh between Thanatos' own. "Ares…"

"I do say," Ares said, his mouth pressed into the hollow beneath Thanatos' ear. “I thought you a hallucination at first, that surely no creature as beautiful as you would set foot in such a dingy little cave. Ah, Thanatos, if only you could have seen yourself that day, my love. Why even the fabled Aphrodite herself couldn’t- ”

Thanatos pulled free of Ares’ hold to lightly cover his mouth.

“ _Tsch_. Let’s not invite trouble.” He lowered his hand and felt his lips twitch in response at the sight of Ares’ grin.

“Superstitious,” Ares laughed, eyes flashing with mirth.

“Cautious,” Thanatos corrected lightly.

He almost wished Aphrodite had reason to stir, that she would come and berate Ares for daring to compare Thanatos to her ethereal form, and his chest ached even as he smiled. For Ares no longer remembered the gods he had once loved so dearly, his memories of Dite and Hermes and Dio lost to the centuries of reincarnation, and Thanatos lived in fear that one day Ares would forget him as well, that not even the strength of their soul bond would be enough to save his mind from the slow and relentless memory deterioration.

If such a day came when Ares stopped searching for him, if those expressive eyes that held such hidden fire should look back at Thanatos with nothing but blank curiosity and no remembrance of the naked love Ares had bestowed upon him all these centuries past, Thanatos vowed he would head directly to the Lethe to drink the river dry.

He was pulled from his melancholy thoughts by Ares’ hands trailing over his skin, smoothing over his shoulders and down his arms to clasp Thanatos’ hands within his own. His thumbs brushed softly over calluses worn from countless swings of a scythe, rubbing in gentle circles as if to soothe them away as his brow furrowed in confusion, and Thanatos felt his breath catch in the back of his throat.

_No, please,_ he despaired. His heart lay frozen in his chest, ice water in his veins as Ares studied Thanatos' hands for a moment before pressing a kiss to his palm.

"Ah, you work too hard, love. Come, let me take care of you," he said, pinning Thanatos' hands to the bed once more.

Ares worshipped Thanatos at his leisure, strong hands holding him still as Ares' lips and teeth worked in tandem to draw gasps of pleasure from Thanatos' throat. He waged a pleasurable war and emerged the victor, delighting in the way Thanatos squirmed and snarled in an effort to urge Ares to a faster pace.

They tumbled across the bed together, wrapped up in each other as they loved slow and sweet. Thanatos sank down and watched Ares' face flush with pleasure, his hands flexing on Thanatos' hips as he guided his movements. "Magnificent," Ares whispered, and Thanatos felt beautiful and powerful and loved. He rose and fell and rose again, watching as Ares bit his lip and tossed his head back among the pillows, desperate to commit this moment to memory. And when Ares reared up to place an open-mouthed kiss on the heated skin over his heart, Thanatos shattered, dragging Ares over the edge with him.

They sat wrapped around each other. Ares pressed his ear to Thanatos' chest to listening to the riotous sound of his heartbeat as Thanatos nuzzled into the mess of Ares' hair, stroking up and down his spine until Ares spoke into the silence of the room.

"What's wrong, Thanatos?"

Thanatos closed his eyes and swallowed over the tightness growing in his throat. "I had a dream."

"Mmm, so you had said."

"Of when we first met." Thanatos made himself look at Ares before admitting the rest. "And also of the hourglass," he said tightly.

Ares looked thoughtful. "Ah. So our time here is at an end, then," he stated. He gazed steadily into Thanatos' eyes and Thanatos was relieved to see no fear there.

"Yes." Thanatos gripped his hand tighter and brought it to his mouth. He breathed a kiss along the knuckles and nuzzled into the palm, breathing in their combined scents that lingered there, knowing that it could be decades before he had this again.

"Darling love, this always tears at you so. I wish I could spare you this pain,” Ares said, pressing kisses along the crest of Thanatos’ cheekbones, always so tender and gentle. “Come, let me hold you until the sun awakens. Surely we have that much time."

Ares drew him down upon his chest and Thanatos rested his head on Ares’ shoulder as together they watched the sun finish slipping over the edge of the horizon. And when he could wait no longer, when he felt the last grain of sand trickle from the upper chamber of the hourglass to merge with the rest, Thanatos turned to face Ares.

"Ares…" His voice was full of pain, and his eyes glistened with the tears he refused to shed.

" _Shh._ I know, my love. Come, won't you kiss me once more? Kiss me farewell, Thanatos, so we may begin anew," Ares said softly as if trying to ease Thanatos' burden.

Thanatos tenderly held Ares' face between his hands and kissed him one last time, running the edge of his fingertip over Ares' ear in the soothing way he had done for centuries now and drew the soul from Ares’ body. Gently, sweetly, Thanatos coaxed it to his hand as Ares' big, warm body went cold and slack beneath him. He held the pulse of light in the palm of his hand and worked to regulate his breathing, his shallow ragged gasps smoothing into steady breaths.

"Remember me, agápi mou," he whispered before sending Ares' soul down to where Charon waited to begin Ares' transmigration. “Come and look for me once more. I'll be waiting.”

The light winked out, the hourglass turned over, and the sands of time began to fall once more. Thanatos began his lonely wait.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading! ♥
> 
> You can find me on Twitter [here](https://twitter.com/CapriciousCrab_?s=09)


End file.
